Burglary and theft through forced entry are concerns of not only the homeowner, but the businessman, and commercial tenant. The present invention, while having application to any standard solid, hinged door, is primarily designed for use by the businessman or commercial tenant which would have multiple doors to their facilities, some of which would be concealed on the rear of the building or in alley ways or streets which are not heavily traveled during the hours when commerical burglary and theft as a result of forced entry occur. Applicant's invention is primarily addressed to these concerns because of the construction and configuration of Applicant's invention.
Door bar systems have been in existence since the first individual placed a crossbeam behind a door to prevent its forced entry. As door security systems have advanced and become more complicated, the thief or burglar's ability to circumvent these security systems has also advanced. A variety of systems have been patented which attempt to prevent the entry, forced or otherwise, through a door. These include U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,328 to Pearson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,598 to Mansour, U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,332 to Palmer as well as a variety of latching devices including U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,999 to Cotton and U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,101 to Kelly.
All of the devices in question relate to some form of crossbar which provides extra support in integrity to the door to prevent its being forced open, the crossbars being secured to the adjacent walls by some means of bracketing device incorporating a lock mechanism. In some instances, such as in Pearson, the door bar system incorporates a locking cover for the doorknob itself.
Given sufficient time and ingenuity and tools, a burglar or thief may possibly overcome most security systems. Applicant's invention is directed towards a design which would require an extended period of time to overcome the system unless the thief or burglar resorted to excessive force to totally destroy the door in question and the surrounding door frame and wall. Applicant's security device, when coupled with an appropriate alarm system, would ensure that any tampering with the door which would set off the alarm would provide the police or other authority with sufficient time to reach the location in question before the door would be breached. Additionally, Applicant believes that its security device could not be breached by a potential burglar or thief without the use of excessive force over an extended period of time.
In many commercial burglaries and thefts, if the alarm can be activated and the thief or burglar experiences sufficient delay in entering the building, the robbery or burglary will be thwarted through abandonment or capture.